Charles Francis Hamlin

Charles Francis Hamlin was born on 17.12.1874 in San Jose (California). After school he moved to Oakland and studied music but also fine arts at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute. In 1914 Hamlin moved to Santa Cruz, stayed there for the rest of his life and became a major part of the musical life of the city. In Santa Cruz he conducted many amateur orchestras and choruses, and worked as a music teacher.

Beside his musical profession he was also a serious and renowned painter, especially for his watercolor paintings.

His compositions include songs, "Hymn to the Sequoia, for chorus and orchestra" as well as this violin concerto. In my possession is the autograph manuscript of the Violin concerto which was composed most likely in the 1920s. The violin concerto was performed several times, first in piano reduction, later in 1937 by the Federal Symphony Orchestra of San Francisco with violinist Alfred Keller under the baton of Hamlin himself.

Charles Francis Hamlin died on 12.08.1946 in Santa Cruz.

Charles Francis Hamlin had four children among them was Edith Hamlin (later Edith Dixon), a well-known painter and wife of painter Maynard Dixon. The cellist Edwin F. Hamlin was the brother of Charles F. Hamlin.